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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “google v3”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “google v3”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 3 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

reCAPTCHA V3 for Jetpack shows at wp.org #2 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430) wp.org #1 2 reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #14 ↑6 9 too low 6 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #15 ↓3 9 too low 7 Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #9 ↑9 1 too low 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 Sitemap by BestWebSoft – WordPress XML Site Map Page Generator Plugin 20K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #10 11 Image and video gallery from Google Drive 4K+ · 4.3★ (39) wp.org #7 ↓2 4 too high 12 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 too low 13 CAOS | Host Google Analytics Locally 10K+ · 4.9★ (128) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Widgets for Google Reviews and Ratings 3K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #5 ↑2 9 too high 15 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #24 ↓2 9 too low 16 Simple Google Calendar Outlook Events Widget 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 L List View Google Calendar 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #12 ↓3 5 too high 18 Login Security Captcha 10K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 reCAPTCHA V3 for Jetpack 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 17 too high 20 LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 CodePeople Post Map for Google Maps 3K+ · 4.2★ (31) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 AdFlow – Ad Inserter & Ad Manager: AdSense, Banner Ads & ads.txt 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too high 23 reCAPTCHA for Asgaros Forum 4K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↑3 2 too high 24 Analytify – Dashboard Widget for Google Analytics 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.